Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I received this box for review purposes.
June 2015 History Unboxed Review – Ancient Athens
History Unboxed is a subscription box that sends cartoons, stories and crafts about a different time in history. Monthly boxes are $19.99/month plus $5.00 shipping and will feature characters Zane (age 8) and Ava (age 13). These characters will travel with your child, as they learn new about new time periods. When you sign up, you will get a welcome kit that includes an interactive time line, a welcome coloring comic strip, a Time Capsule kit to create your own historic memento and additional introductory materials to use during your History Unboxed Subscription (colored pencils, a paintbrush etc).
Each month will feature a different time and place in the ancient world with hands on crafts, activities, and art so that your child can learn about history in a memorable and exciting way. There are two different boxes, a 5-9 year old box and a 10-15 year old box. I was sent the 5-9 year old box for review.
The Details:
Cost: $19.99/month, $54.99 every 3 months, $214.89 yearly.
Shipping: Shipping is $7.00/month
What's in the box? Your child will get a welcome kit their first month. Then, each month will feature a different time and place in the ancient world with hands on crafts, activities, and art so that your child can learn about history in a memorable and exciting way.
- The box for ages 5 to 9 will feature 8-year-old Zane. Each box will include a comic coloring strip from artist David Stanley as well as age appropriate crafts and enrichment materials that can be completed with the help of a grown up.
-
The box for ages 10 to 15 features 13-year-old Ava. Each box will include a detailed color sheet from artist Brier Clough, a letter to your child from Ava, and crafts and enrichment materials that can be completed mostly independently.
Website: http://history-unboxed.myshopify.com/
This is the 5-9 year old box.
History Unboxed shipped in a big Priority Mail box. It's not the nicer box that I received in my last review, but the contents are the most important thing.
The theme for this month is “Ancient Athens”. The information sheet gives you information about each activity in the box.
Comic: Each box includes a hand drawn comic about Ancient Athens. Your child can color this, although L (age 6), preferred to just read it with me.
Sticker: This sticker sheet contains quotes from Plato's teachings. There was also a sticker to place on your child's timeline, from the welcome box.
Craft #1 – Sculpt and decorate a pot in the Attic Black style: This is the method the Athenians used to make red and black pottery, the pottery would often feature drawings from mythology. Using air dry clay, your child can make a similar piece.
First, you roll the clay into a ball and make a small hole.
L had fun molding the clay into a bowl.
L painted the bottom of the bowl black, to prepare for carving.
A carving tool was included, so your child could make a design in the clay. L really enjoyed customizing his bowl.
This is L's finished pattern.
Once the clay hardens, L painted the pot with glue/glaze. This is the finished piece.
Craft #2 – Shadow Puppets: An allegory called “The Cave” was included. The story was about prisoners in a cave, who used to make shadow puppets on the walls to pass the time. A set of shadow puppets were included to cut out and they can be used to create your his/her own stories.
The animals were hand drawn and had lots of details. L cut out some of the animals, but he asked me to cut out the rest and get into the small spaces.
These are the finished puppets. We played with the puppets at bedtime and made up some fun stories. The dog was a bit hard to decipher as a shadow puppet, but the rest of the puppets worked well.
Enrichment Items: Audio CD of Greek Myths: This CD has four stories: King Midas&The Golden Touch, Arache, Perseus and Medusa, and Adventures of Hercules, This was a great cd and we listened to it in the van.
Final Thought: This box was really fun for my 6 year old and he learned several things about ancient Athens. The clay pot was the highlight in the box, because it took several steps to complete. History Unboxed is one of the only subscription boxes for children, that focuses on history. If you have a child that enjoys history, check out History Unboxed and use the code subboxmom to get 5% off your first subscription.
Do you like FREE SUBSCRIPTION BOXES? Click HERE to see my free subscription box list.
You can see my FULL coupon list HERE.
Do you love Giveaways? Click HERE to enter all my Giveaways.